1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical fiber technology, and more particularly to an optical fiber connector assembly, which can be conveniently mounted in a mating optical fiber adapter or dismounted therefrom with one single hand with less effort.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following fast development of communication and internet technology, telephone and network facilities are for data transmission and real time communication, bringing great convenience to people. In a communication system, cables are used for transmitting electrical signal or optical signal. The transmission of optical signal is faster than the transmission of electrical signal. Optical fiber cables are commonly used for transmitting optical signal. Further, optical fiber cables have the advantages of strong anti-electromagnetic interference anti-noise ability, wide bandwidth, light weight, long distance transmission and good privacy.
Further, many different types of optical fiber connectors are commercially available. The most widely used optical fiber connectors are SC (subscriber/square/standard) connectors and LC (lucent/local/little) connectors. A LC (lucent/local/little) connector shrinks the ferrules to 1.25 mm in diameter with a fiber pitch of 6.25 mm. Two LC simplex connectors can be joined to form a duplex connector. LC optical fiber connectors are low cost, reliable and easy-to-install method to terminate fiber optic cables. Further, LC optical fiber connectors provide simplex and duplex transmission flexibility. Further, optical fiber connectors are equipped with ferrules for alignment and connection between mating optical fiber connectors. These ferrules can be made of ceramics or copper, and are adapted to act as alignment mechanisms. They have the advantages of high dimensional precision, high mechanical durability, low insertion loss and low reflective loss, minimizing optical signal loss. FIG. 14 illustrates a LC type optical fiber connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,634. According to this prior art design, the optical fiber connector A includes a connector housing A1, a fiber-holding structure B located at a rear side of the connector housing A1 to hold an optical fiber cable C therein, and a spring latch A11 located on a single side surface of the connector housing A1, which is manually operable and used to lock the connector A to an associated receptacle. However, when going to disconnect the connector from the associated receptacle, the user needs to press the spring latch A11 and then pull the connector housing A1 backwards. Because the pressing direction and the pulling direction are different, it is inconvenient to disconnect the connector from the associating receptacle. Further, it is difficult to access the fingers to the spring latch A11 of one of multiple connectors that are arranged adjacent to one another.
FIG. 15 illustrates another prior design of optical fiber connector according to Taiwan Patent M582557. This design is a LC type duplex connector, which comprises a receptacle D formed of a bottom shell D1 and a top cover shell D2, an optical fiber cable C inserted into the receptacle D and surrounded by an inner jacket B1 and then a fiber-holding structure B, and two connectors A mounted in the receptacle D and connected with one respective optical fiber C1 of the optical fiber cable C. Each connector A comprises a connector housing A1 having a clip A11 at a top side thereof, a calibration tube A2 loaded with one respective compression spring A3 and mounted in the connector housing A1 and holding one respective optical fiber C1, and a boot A4 connected to the rear side of the connector housing A1 around a rear part of the calibration tube A2. After installation, the positions of the two connectors A cannot be exchanged to change the polarity of the two optical fibers C1 of the optical fiber cable C.
FIG. 16 illustrates still another prior design of optical fiber connector according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,970. This design of fiber optic connector is similar to that shown in FIG. 15, comprising a housing D, two connection modules A and a fiber optic cable C. The housing D is formed of a top cover shell D2 and a bottom cover shell D1. The top cover shell D2 has mounting hooks D21 and a clip D22. The bottom cover shell D1 has mounting grooves D11 respectively forced into engagement with the mounting hooks D21 of the top cover shell D2, thereby holding down the connection modules A and the fiber optic cable C in between the top cover shell D2 and the bottom cover shell D1. The user can pull the top cover shell D2 to move the mounting hooks D21 along the mounting grooves D11 and to further open the top cover shell D2 for allowing exchange of the positions of the two connection modules A. After exchange of the positions of the connection modules A, the polarity of the two optical fibers C1 of the optical fiber cable C is relatively changed. When disconnecting the optical fiber connector from the mating optical fiber adapter, the user needs to press the finger strip D22 of the top cover shell D2 to elastically deform the clips A11 of the connection modules A, and then pull the optical fiber connector backwards, complicating the operation. When pulling the optical fiber connector backwardly out of the mating optical fiber adapter, the mounting hooks D21 can be accidentally moved along the mounting grooves D11 of the bottom cover shell D1, loosening the top cover shell D2. Therefore, this design of optical fiber connector has the drawback of low structural stability. Further, the design of the finger strip D22 of the top cover shell D2 greatly increases the overall height of the optical fiber connector, and is not convenient for gripping by the fingers. When multiple optical fiber connectors are arranged close to one another, the user's fingers will be not easy to access to the finger strip D22 of the assigned optical fiber connector.
FIG. 17 illustrates still another prior design of optical fiber connector design according to U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,385. This design is a duplex fiber optic cable assembly D substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 15 with the exception that the two connectors A1 of the fiber optic connector assembly A are respectively pivotally connected to the housing D1 by a respective connection member A4 so that the two connectors A1 are respectively rotatable through 180-degrees relative to the housing D1 for change of the polarity of the optical fiber of the optical fiber cable C. However, when rotating the connectors A1, the respective optical fibers of the optical fiber cable C are respectively twisted, leading to signal transmission loss or optical fiber damage.
FIG. 18 illustrates still another prior design of optical fiber connector design according to (WIPO) WO 2011/151175 A2. This patent discloses a push-pull LC type duplex optical fiber connector design that is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 17 with the exception that the connector bodies A1 of the two connectors A are respectively connected to the optical fiber cable holder D3 of the receptacle D by a respective connection member A4; a clamp B2 is fastened to the rear side of the receptacle D to hold down the optical fiber cable C; the two optical fibers of the optical fiber cable C are inserted through a boot body B3 of a boot B and the clamp B2 and then respectively inserted into respective calibration tubes A2 in the connector bodies A1; the boot body B3 comprises two hook rods B31 respectively inserted into respective openings A12 in respective clips A11 at the connector bodies A1 of the two connectors A; the boot body B3 has a top opening B30 covered by a detachable cover B32 that has a bottom protruding portion (not shown) engaged into a hole D31 in the top side of the receptacle D to stop the boot body B3 from displacement relative to the receptacle D. When the user pulls the boot body B3 backwards, the hook rods B31 will be forced against respective convex surface portions of the connector bodies A1 to elastically deform the clips A11, thereby unlocking the optical fiber connector assembly from the mating optical fiber adapter.
When wishing to change the polarity of the optical fibers of the optical fiber cable C, the user can detach the detachable cover B32 from the hole D31 of the receptacle D and the top opening B30 of the boot body B3, and then pull the boot body B3 backwards to expose the optical fiber cable holder D3 of the receptacle D to the outside for allowing rotation of the boot body B3 through 180° relative to the receptacle D. Thereafter, the user can push the boot body B3 forwardly to its former position and then attach the detachable cover B32 to the top opening B30 of the boot body B3 to force its bottom protruding portion into engagement with the hole D31 in the top side of the receptacle D. This operation procedure is complicated because the user must detach the detachable cover B32 from the top opening B30 of the boot body B3 before rotating the boot body B3 through 180° relative to the receptacle D. The detachable cover B32 can get lost easily after detached from the top opening B30 of the boot body B3.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an optical fiber connector assembly that eliminates the drawbacks of the aforesaid various prior art designs.